been there recently, done that recently . . . . .
1) don't do anything till you measure where you intend to put all this. Power cages and simple squat stands are around 4' wide, if you only have 8' or less between the wall and the washer/dryer or water heater you'll be squeezed trying to load plates on either end of the bar. Hopefully you'll be moving the bar pretty much straight up and down, but a 7' bar within an 8' space doesn't leave much room for error.
measure ceiling space too. most racks are 8' high, some are shorter. I don't have a basement, I'm guessing most have 8' ceilings? (minus rafters?) If you found a shorter rack but plan to do standing presses, and if you are well over 6' yourself and use 45's on the bar, an 8' ceiling might get kinda close. Likewise if you have a rack near the ceiling and plan on doing pullups on the bar most include, that might be a heads up to you lol
2) Google will take you anywhere, two places I like are Sorinex and Rogue, practically twins in design and price, but there are others. Heavier duty and more expensive than what the local sporting goods store sells, but worth it for your safety and peace of mind. Shipping charges will eat you alive on all this iron, if you find 2 or more places you like, distance from your home might be the tiebreaker, most of those websites have a shipping calculator feature. In a dream world, you will live within a few hrs of one and can just pick it up, even if you need a small U-Haul for a day.
3) As above, don't skimp too much on barbell quality, some of those "bundled" deals of "300lb Oly Weight Set" at those sporting goods stores include bars that bend a little too readily if you do use 300lbs or more. Plates, otoh, is where I skimped. Places like Sorinex will sell Eleiko (read "Rolls Royce") plates for what your house cost. Understanding market forces, they will also offer one or more downgrades, usually bottoming out around $4/lb. But, I google-shopped around and found other brand X plates for about ONE dollar a pound at Sears and WalMart. I caught one at Wally's where shipping was free, couldn't believe it, seems like a huge tactical error on their part. That offer may have been a passing thing, the point is to shop around. I got 500-something lbs for 500-something dollars, I'm not world class in any iron sport, if my 45's weigh 44, or 46 and are cast, not machined, and say Made In China instead of USA or Sweden, it works for me. Assuming the sweet free-shipping deal I got no longer applies, the big box stores may get your order to the nearest store to you, and you pick it up for free or a minor fee.
4) some of the harder core places sell rubber floor mats, I mean super heavy duty rubber, the kind that show almost no depression when several hundred lbs is sitting on them. You could get enuf for a wall to wall floor if you chose, I just got four 24" x 24" x 1" mats for misc. use. You may not drop the bar from overhead OL-style, but you'll "nudge" that nice cement floor with deadlifts, maybe other stuff. Also, the rack and the bench may not fit each other as precisely as you want as to where the spotter pins catch the bar for Benches, Inclines, Squats, 1 or 2 of those mats under your feet or the bench's feet space it out to where you want it.
Loves me some black iron, no chrome, no polished mirrors, just a good ol' boiler room gym.
